Mykola Hladyshenko was added to the supervisory board shortlist for Sense Bank in 2025 after a phone call from presidential official Iryna Mudra.
Viesturs Liegis, director of headhunting firm Executive Search Ukraine, revealed the intervention during a hearing of a Verkhovna Rada temporary commission of inquiry on Wednesday.
Liegis explained that his agency had initially compiled a candidate shortlist that did not include Hladyshenko. He stated that all 111 applications were assessed according to a scoring methodology approved by the bank nomination committee. Hladyshenko received fewer points than other applicants, meaning more competent and experienced candidates had qualified for the original list.
The recruitment firm then received a direct request from the nomination committee to evaluate several extra applicants, including Hladyshenko. Liegis told the commission that he received a phone call from Mudra asking the firm to review those candidates.
Selection process and state bank governance
At the time of the phone conversation, Mudra served as deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine. She was a member of the selection commission choosing independent supervisory board members for state-owned banks, representing the Ukrainian president on the panel.
Following the request, Executive Search Ukraine added the proposed candidates to the interview list. After the interviews were completed, Hladyshenko secured a position on the supervisory board and subsequently became its chairman.
Executive Search Ukraine is a professional headhunting firm that conducts senior management selection for public and private sector entities in Ukraine. Sense Bank is a major commercial financial institution operating under state control in Kyiv, where independent board members are appointed to oversee governance and maintain operational integrity.
Cash laundering allegations and Cabinet dismissal
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the supreme body of executive power in the country, dismissed Hladyshenko from his post on August 21, 2026. The government action followed allegations that he was involved in legalizing 150 million Ukrainian hryvnias in cash through Sense Bank to cover bail for former minister Herman Halushchenko.
Hladyshenko and Mudra are also connected through their shared involvement in a corruption case code-named Forest Gump. The matter is being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the national agency responsible for investigating high-level financial crime and official corruption.
Parliamentary inquiry into banking operations
The temporary commission of inquiry established by the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's national parliament, is conducting hearings to examine the recruitment process and financial transactions at the bank. Parliamentary commissions of inquiry are formed by Ukrainian lawmakers to investigate matters of public importance and report their findings back to the legislature.
Lawmakers on the investigative panel are continuing to examine evidence and testimony regarding the transfer of funds and the selection of senior bank leadership. Further disclosures are expected as the parliamentary probe and law enforcement investigations proceed.
